Those polls show that Hilz has lost her lead after a feel-good convention while the Donald is creeping up and running into her backside with numbers that make him cocky and confident.

Who has ever been polled by these organizations in a presidential election? Tell me now, and tell me why these polls can influence and effect the outcome of a presidential election occurring in 50-some days.

Do you allow polling data to influence how you cast your vote or express your opinion? Do you follow a media outlet and hang on every word of their punditry and allow them to make your opinion for you? Do you let your own BFF dictate your vote? Tell me why you’re voting for your candidate with solid support, and I’ll tell you, “Amen, Sistah.”

We rely too much on the effects of the survey and poll to tell us how to react, how to vote, how to feel, how to take action, and basically how to follow the leader.

And, then, there’s Russia. The country that has so brazenly hacked into the livelihood of the totality of the United States from political organizations and celebrities to figureheads and Olympians’ medical records.

Our country has enemies; many of them. In fact, our country has enemies within its borders who are born of these United States. Our Congress has enemies of enemies that sit across the aisles from one another with an obstructionist bent to ensure that POTUS does not succeed or a bill doesn’t pass.

A survey and a poll of my 10 BFFs will tell you that we live in a hateful era where BB guns that look like police-issued weapons and are carried by 13-year-olds cause loss of life in Columbus, Ohio. We hear about Chicago as the gun capital of the world instead of Aleppo, the region in Syria that the green party candidate didn’t know about.

Achh.

There is too much strife in our world to comprehend; there is too much pain amongst us to consider. Certainly, a survey and a poll can tell us what we already know – that the world is doomed if this strife and unrest continues. Our children will grow up negative; our families will suffer without hope; and, guns and insects will rule the world.

There’s Always Hope

While I’m bludgeoned by the intensity of the hatred and divisiveness in which we live today in our neighborhoods, communities, schools, cities, states, countries, and continents, I have hope.

I have hope that my child will be a stand-up citizen and benefit from all the attention I’ve devoted to raise her with conviction.

I have hope that the turmoil in the U.S.A. government will subside and that political parties can reduce the barriers and join forces for the good of the American people.

I have hope that gun violence and mental illness will wane and families will not lose their loved ones to senseless crimes.

I have hope that love will prevail because it has to.

I have hope that you will watch over the elderly neighbor next door who needs you to be a beacon of support.

I have hope that those who wish that hatred prevail can find peace in their heart to love instead.

Sometimes it’s overwhelming to be an adult who knows too much and who has lived through times unlike these. As a marketer and public relations professional, it’s my job to peruse current events while subconsciously absorbing emotion evoked by the news I read and the strife I feel.

If I immerse too much, I cry. The wonder and ponder I have for my child’s future and her children’s future give me pause. There’s ALWAYS hope with love to envelop it, and I can’t forget. You see, a survey and a poll will never influence my choice; I will make that choice myself with confidence.

IDG is a HUUUUGE company; in fact, it states on its website that it is the world’s largest media tech company. That’s nothing to sneeze at, and you know what else? IDG also had a brand culture problem. It was so big that the individual business units were silos. We’ve heard about silos before, right? Apparently, IDG had never hired a chief marketing officer which is highly interesting for such a massive global corporation.

The company decided to relaunch the brand to better inform customers about what else was available throughout the company, and in order to do so, it had to align its brand culture with all internal stakeholders.

The very first step taken by IDG was to research. This is ALWAYS the first step to take to find all of the problems and to then apply strategy to solve them.

Being the victim of fraud is one of the most excruciating pains for the psyche. There’s not a moment that passes when you don’t think of yourself as stupid and dumb (probably the very same thing) for falling for it. Especially when the tells were there.

I am a marketing professional. I like to think I’m pretty keen on knowing when something smells rotten. But it was the perfect storm, so let me tell you about it so perhaps you’ll recognize the signs a lot faster than I did. [Read more…]

There are too many stories of friends, family and neighbors with dementia getting scammed by a crook who wants their money or valuables. It saddens me immensely. That’s why I immediately sat down to write after reading this Wall Street Journal article, ‘Dementia-Friendly’ Cities.

Turns out that Paynesville, Minn., a town of 2,400 friendlies, is ‘dementia friendly’ and they nurture dementia.

That means the folks who live, work, sleep and eat in this small Midwestern community are nurturing their elders and being kind to a aging disease no one wants, everyone fears, and for which there’s no cure.

I applaud and admire the elders of Paynesville who created this nurturing dementia mentality.

The article states, “The number of Americans 65 and older with Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia, is projected to rise 40 percent over the next 10 years, to 7.1 million from 5.1 million, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, a national nonprofit group.”

Apparently, the movement to nurture dementia is taking off in Florida, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Arizona, and West Virginia, to name a few. There is a national pilot program called Dementia Friendly America modeled on the work in Paynesville and Minnesota’s 36 dementia-friendly communities that is turnkey for other locations to help those 65+ manage this age-intensifying condition.

Cross-disciplinary organizations often collaborate to put such programs in place. In Paynesville, there are volunteers who help with caregiving, buying the groceries, with yard work, and more. Foundations and healthcare companies also help implement the community-wide programming so that people with dementia and their loved ones can receive some comfort on their path.

Nurturing Dementia Is About Changing Mindset, Like Good PR

The public relations aspect of this national program provides great opportunity for collaborative community relations with the goal of helping humanity. It’s heart marketing at its finest, and you all know by now I have a podcast called, The Heart Of Marketing.

Before the disruption in technology began to turn entire sectors on their heads, we did grassroots public relations. We built relationships in communities with influencers and leaders. We listened to the community to understand problems they wanted solved. We heard from businesses about their resources they wanted to put into play in the communities. We approached foundations and non-profits to see what role they wanted to be accountable for. We set out to change mindset and cultural shift.

Plans were drawn up. Everyone got marching orders. Action happened, and goals were reached with good-old community relations and relationship building. This was all before the time of social media; it was called traditional public relations.

For a national program like this, more people can be reached. There are more ways to engage families of people with dementia and to nurture dementia with technology.

I’m so happy the Wall Street Journal covered this PR story. It’s a good thing when we get to read news of collaboration and the principles of heart marketing that I tout on my podcast with John Gregory Olson. When your role is oriented to caring for a community, you need to constantly adapt with the needs of the people.